Where’s the ‘Child’ in the No Child Left Behind Debate?

By Thomas E. Petri

Listening to recent debates in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail regarding the reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, one might wonder where the aforementioned “child” is.

Merit pay, professional development, and supplementary educational services are just a few of the hotly contested issues. And all sides appear to be entrenched, with little hope of reconciliation this year.

As important as these issues are, they are ultimately peripheral to the individual students and the impact this law has had on them. Frankly, too little attention has been paid to the “child” that the law...